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The Department of Consumer Affairs, Government of India, has sought public comments on Draft Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns. Draft Guidelines are placed on the website of the Department of Consumer Affairs and are accessibl
The government has sought public comments on draft guidelines for prevention and regulation of "dark patterns" which are nothing but tactics used by online players to deceive customers or manipulate their choices. The draft guidelines, issued by the Consumer Affairs Ministry, list various deceptive practices being adopted by online platforms in the nature of dark patterns which are against the interests of consumers.
Under the guidelines, around 10 dark patterns have been specified. They are: false urgency, basksneaking, confirm shaming, forced action, subscription trap, interface interference, bait and switch, drip pricing, disguised advertisement and nagging.
These dark patterns mislead people into doing something they originally did not wish to do, such as paying for items or services they did not intend to buy.
The online shopping portals use various means to nudge the consumers to buy more, or often manipulate their choices. Sounds familiar; This is done by introducing certain changes in the design pattern of the online platforms. Such malicious design changes are called dark patterns.